Opinion: The Stars Belong to All of Us

Last week, IGN reported on ongoing discussions between federal regulatory agencies and private corporations regarding landing and territory rights on the surface of the moon. The revelation was fascinating but unsurprising, as many US companies already do lots of profitable business in outer space. Ever think about where your satellite TV comes from?

As I read the report, I remembered that great quote from Fight Club: "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything: the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks." A privatized moon is a future light-years removed from that envisioned by the 1967 UN Outer Space treaty, which begins: “Inspired by the great prospects opening up before mankind as a result of man's entry into outer space, recognizing the common interest of all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, believing that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development...” A corporately-colonized solar system isn't compatible with that lofty vision.

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...the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development...

If the exploration and use of space is to be justified for the betterment of all people in truth as well as in principle, then it cannot be dominated by a commodities mentality. I admire the entrepreneurial spirit of the companies behind private space exploration. They're picking up the ball of opportunity dropped by governments around the world. But in the process, they’re creating a precedent that outer space will be another avenue of life governed by market forces, a place that many long to reach but a very few will likely control. The people funding and potentially profiting from laying stakes in lunar space have combined assets beyond the wildest dreams of most people. They are risking a great deal, but they also have ample assets to take that risk, and pragmatic motivations to profit monetarily from that investment. That worries me.

Civilly-funded space exploration is at it's lowest ebb since Sputnik. While NASA and other worldwide space agencies still accomplish exciting feats and are actively preparing for a Martian mission, the pace and scale of the planning is underwhelming when contrasted against the lofty plans put forth by entrepreneurial firms. A failure exists at some fundamental level of our culture to recognize the potential space travel and colonization have to render civic profits far greater in value than monetary gains.

What sort of profits? The shared technologies and findings of civic space agencies have already benefited our species in countless ways. The technical development necessitated by the drive to space had been astounding, with innovations in rocketry, telecommunications, and electronics which have created jobs, fed vast industries, and created life-saving inventions. Secondly, the space race and subsequent orbital explorations have revealed vast, society altering truths about the nature and origins of the universe, ideas which have fundamentally enlightened and altered our collective worldviews in a single generation.

But most important is that great, untapped potential for space exploration to transform our society into something intrinsically more unified. As robotics and software development continue to alter our culture and economics and an exponentially accelerated rate, the need for new, optimistic, and more selfless social and economic systems becomes apparent. Space exploration still has the potential that scientific luminaries like Carl Sagan and Gene Roddenberry portended, offering opportunities for humanity to lay aside nationalism and greed and become a better culture at large. If this all sounds too pie-in-the-sky for belief, remember that such fundamental culture shifts have happened before. Tribes fundamentally shifted to become kingdoms, kingdoms became republics and democracies. The world changes, and space exploration will change it again.

When the change comes, I’d rather live in Star Trek than on Planet Starbucks.

If you want space to belong to everyone, you need to act. Read the Outer Space Treaty and learn more about NASA's plans for martian exploration. Reach out to your representatives and senators tell them you believe internationally-cooperative space travel has value. Support candidates who understand the potential of a future in the stars. Write to national and international space agencies to express your concerns. Read up on aerospace businesses in your state. Buy a telescope and get caught up in the wonder of the night sky. Share that wonder with everyone you know.